Sudan Liberation Army rebels may have killed aid workers – UN

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Dec 15, 2004 (AP) — There are indications that the rebel Sudan Liberation Army may have been responsible for the shooting death of two aid workers earlier this week, a U.N. spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) rebels ride on the front of a truck with a bullet-ridden windscreen into the mountain village of Deribat in South Darfur state in western Sudan November 16, 2004. (Reuters).

Radhia Achouri said, however, that the U.N. was waiting for the African Union to investigate the deaths.

Two Sudanese employees of Save the Children U.K. were killed Sunday when their convoy came under fire in South Darfur. Another employee was injured and is in the hospital, the group said in a statement Wednesday.

Save The Children suspended its work in the area and has withdrawn its team back to Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state.

“We have indications that those responsible for the shooting were members of the Sudan Liberation Army,” Achouri said at a weekly press briefing.

In a telephone call later, Achouri said there were also two or three other possibilities, which she did not elaborate on. She also suggested that the attack could have been carried out by “some elements” of the SLA rather than as an operation planned by the movement itself.

Achouri said fighting was reported in a number of villages east and southeast of Nyala Sunday and Monday. Arab militias reportedly entered the Kalma displaced persons’ camp on Monday, shooting into the air and looting personal belongings and livestock.

“Moreover, the reported buildup of rival armed groups in these areas have raised serious concerns in the humanitarian community. U.N. operations and movements have been suspended in these areas due to the insecurity,” she said at her briefing.

She said there were also reports of fighting Tuesday between government forces and the SLA near El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.

Despite the insecurity, Achouri said 79% of the affected population in Darfur was accessible to U.N. humanitarian workers.

“Most of the underserved areas remain rebel-held, many of which have not been accessible to U.N. agencies because of a series of security incidents and a delay in obtaining SLA agreement and understanding of humanitarian rules and principles laid out in agreements,” Achouri said.

She said an estimated 2.28 million people have been affected by the nearly two-year conflict, including 1.65 million who have been displaced in the fighting.

The SLA and another rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, took up arms in February 2003 to fight for more power and resources in the western desert Darfur states.The Sudanese government responded by backing an Arab militia known as the Janjaweed, which is accused of targeting civilians in a campaign of murder, rape and arson.

Disease and famine have killed 70,000 in Darfur since March, the World Health Organization says. There is no official reckoning of the overall toll of the war.